Steele, Progressives and Common Ground

This week, Republican Chairman Michael Steele was replaced by former Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus. Steele always had an unusual knack for attracting controversy and my Republican friends were always in a tight spot when it came to supporting him. If they said they liked him they were accused by the left of supporting lesbian bondage clubs and if they said they didn’t like him they were called racists. He did score some points with me when he questioned the war in Afghanistan and even received some praise from Ron Paul. Unfortunately, he quickly recanted and renewed his support for the war after a Republican establishment backlash.

Reince Priebus has his work cut out for him and if he plans on being successful he needs to reach out to younger voters. That means he must question the wars, oppose the Federal Reserve, fight to cap the national debt, and avoid getting bogged down on social issues. I truly believe that if the Republican Party is to have a future, they must lean strongly toward libertarianism.

Michael Steele visited Flagstaff last October. Since he is such a controversial figure, I wanted to meet him. He was super friendly and seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

At the Michael Steele event, several protesters from the Progressive Democrats Of Northern Arizona showed up. Most were respectful but one woman kept yelling and aggressively jumping in front of the cameras with her sign. Steele’s people were very patient with her…more patient than I would have been.

My wife and I walked down to the highway where the other Progressive protesters were and it turned out that some of them were people I frequently talk to on Facebook. They recognized us right away and we started talking about the things we agreed on (ending the wars, ending corporate welfare, etc.) rather than our disagreements.

Progressive Democrats Of Northern Arizona showing some love.

More Progressive love at the Michael Steele event.

A couple days ago, I was personally invited by the Progressive Democrats Of Northern Arizona to their M.L.K. /events in Tucson vigil. I plan on attending but if at any time they start attacking the right and blaming the tea party or whoever else they want to blame, I will leave. The left/ right paradigm nonsense needs to stop.

I was very encouraged this week when I heard Ralph Nader on Freedom Watch talking about a progressive libertarian coalition. Gerald Celente has been talking about this for a while and I think it is something we should embrace. We the people must start working together and look at the big picture. It’s not you against me. It’s us against those who want to control us. Yes, we will disagree but we have to find common ground whenever we can. That was my goal when I created the Flagstaff Liberty Alliance. Let’s all work together on the issues we can agree on rather than fighting each other every chance we get.